California has temporarily banned singing and chanting in places of worship as it fights its second wave of coronavirus cases.

On Wednesday, the California Department of Public Health updated its COVID-19 guidelines and mandated churches to temporarily “discontinue singing and chanting activities.” In addition to that, places of worship are also required to limit their attendance to only 100 attendees or 25% capacity, whichever is lower.

As of Thursday, there have been 140,195 reported COVID-19 cases in California. There were also over 5,000 people who were hospitalized due to the virus, while 1,676 were put in intensive care units.

The state is currently facing a second wave of the Chinese virus cases as Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests continue to spread across California and other states. One county that is experiencing a sudden surge is LA. As reported by The Patriot Hill, LA County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer announced that the sudden spike in new cases was “highly likely” related to the ongoing protests and riots across LA.

The second wave prompted California Gov. Gavin Newsom to reverse the reopening of 19 counties, including Sacramento, Fresno, Santa Barbara, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Los Angeles.

Indoor restaurant dining was ordered to be stopped, while movie theaters and indoor museums were pushed to close businesses once again.

Back in March, in the first wave of COVID-19 cases, California churches refused to follow Newsom’s stay-at-home order, but with the release of the updated health and safety guidelines, Capital Christian Center, one of Sacramento’s largest churches, said that it will follow the new orders put in place. The church has already put its choir activities on hold.

Last May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did a study on a Washington state choir practice where the Chinese coronavirus rapidly spread. “The act of singing, itself, might have contributed to transmission through emission of aerosols, which is affected by loudness of vocalization,” the study read.